Making Levantine Cuisine | Anny Gaul, Graham Auman Pitts & Vicki Valosik

Making Levantine Cuisine: Modern Foodways of the Eastern Mediterranean | Anny Gaul, Graham Auman Pitts & Vicki Valosik

How do modern politics, borders, and shared traditions shape the evolving foodways of the Eastern Mediterranean? Anny Gaul, Graham Auman Pitts, and Vicki Valosik explore.

About the Book:

Melding the rural and the urban with the local, regional, and global, Levantine cuisine is a mélange of ingredients, recipes, and modes of consumption rooted in the Eastern Mediterranean. Making Levantine Cuisine provides much-needed scholarly attention to the region’s culinary cultures while teasing apart the tangled histories and knotted migrations of food.

Akin to the region itself, the culinary repertoires that comprise Levantine cuisine endure and transform—are unified but not uniform.

This book delves into the production and circulation of sugar, olive oil, and pistachios; examines the social origins of kibbe, Adana kebab, shakshuka, falafel, and shawarma; and offers a sprinkling of family recipes along the way.

The histories of these ingredients and dishes, now so emblematic of the Levant, reveal the processes that codified them as national foods, the faulty binaries of Arab or Jewish and traditional or modern, and the global nature of foodways. Making Levantine Cuisine draws from personal archives and public memory to illustrate the diverse past and persistent cultural unity of a politically divided region.

Frequently Asked Questions About Making Levantine Cuisine:

• Q: Is this book primarily a traditional step-by-step cookbook or an academic study?
  A: This is primarily a foundational, book-length scholarly work devoted to food history, anthropology, and critical theory. While it does offer a light sprinkling of authentic family recipes, poetry, and personal reminiscences, its main goal is to analyze the social contexts and labor mechanics behind how food shapes culture.
• Q: What is the core definition and geographical focus of "Levantine cuisine" used here?
  A: The book explores the foodways of the Eastern Mediterranean (the Levant)—spanning fluid historical territories across modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, and Turkey. It highlights how these culinary traditions are "unified but not uniform," melding local rural origins with global migrations.
• Q: Which iconic ingredients and street foods are structurally analyzed inside?
  A: The text features deep-dive analytical chapters tracking the production and cultural circulation of foundational staples like sugar, olive oil, and pistachios. It also explores the social origins and political histories behind emblematic regional dishes such as kibbe, Adana kebab, shakshuka, falafel, and shawarma.
  Q: Does the text address the political controversies surrounding national foods?
  A: Yes, directly. The essays peel back the corporate, nationalistic, and ideological branding that often isolates these dishes. The authors examine the faulty, rigid binaries of "Arab or Jewish" and "traditional or modern," demonstrating how states like Turkey and Israel historically built national food cultures by adopting and modifying traditions from marginalized populations.
• Q: Who is the ideal target audience for this academic volume?
  A: It is a vital asset written for food historians, cultural anthropologists, sociologists, Middle Eastern studies scholars, and deeply curious foodies. It functions as an exceptional introductory guide for anyone looking to understand how culinary repertoires adapt, cross borders, and endure through periods of intense political division.

Summary:

Culinary traditions, cultural heritage, and modern foodways across the Levant. Anny Gaul, Graham Auman Pitts, and Vicki Valosik explore regional cuisine.

Bibliographic Data:

• Full Title: Making Levantine Cuisine: Modern Foodways of the Eastern Mediterranean
• Author(s) / Editor(s): Anny Gaul, Graham Auman Pitts, and Vicki Valosik
• Publisher & Imprint: University of Texas Press
• Publication Date: August 5, 2025
• Condition: Pre-Owned / Very Good
• Edition: Trade Paperback Edition Run
• Binding Format: Trade Paperback
• Print Length: 248 Pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 9781477331880
• ISBN-10: 1477331883
• Library of Congress (LCCN): 2021021074
• Primary Genre (BISAC): TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Food Science / General
• Sub-Genres (BISAC): SOCIAL SCIENCE / TEXT / Freemasonry & Secret Societies; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Regional Studies; COOKING / Regional & Ethnic / Middle Eastern
• Dimensions: 6.0 x 1.2 x 9.0 inches
• Weight: 15.9 oz (approx. 1.0 lb)

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